Dead by Nightfall
by Scotty512
Summary: Ryan wakes up alone in the woods, his brother and friend missing, the sounds of screams filling the air as shadows dance on the flames. The dead quickly approaching, no idea where they are, no where to go, Ryan has seconds to decide what to do.
1. Chapter 1

"JASON! ASHLEY!" He screams spinning and panicking as he jumps up from a deep sleep. The fire cackling, the wind howling, the leaves bristling in the winds, and a faint moan in the distance, but growing louder every second. Ryan climbs up into the tree to get a better look at the noises and his heart pounding in his chest, his body becomes cold with fear.

"RYAN RUNNNNN" a female voice screams amidst the loud moaning and groaning as he quickly realizes it's Ashley, but where is Jason? Paralyzed with fear Ryan can't move, his mind goes blank, everything around him goes quiet, he can't move, can't hear, can't breathe.

"Ryan we need to move now!" She screams as the dead get closer, there silhouettes dancing in the flames, there screams echoing through the woods, "BOOM" a loud gunshot goes off, and suddenly Ryan's back.

"WHAT THE FUCK IS WRONG WITH YOU, WE NEED TO LEAVE!" She screams angrily, as the two sprint towards the van. "BOOM, BOOM, BOOM" three loud gunshots echo throughout the woods, as Ryan can't help but think could that be Jason? Why isn't he with Ashley, where did they go?

"Ashley, where is Jason?" He asks in a panicked voice as the gunshots continue ringing.

"I- I don't know" she says as the engine starts up.

"Well we can't just fucking leave without him!" Ryan protests as he opens the door

"RYAN!" She screams " if we don't leave now, we'll never make it out of here. We'll come back and look for him, I promise" she gets out as tears fill her eyes.

"AHHHHHHHH" a faint scream in the distance causes Ryan to jump out of the truck, sprinting back in the direction of the scream. He stops dead in his track as he watches Jason get surrounded and taken down.

"HELP MEEEE! HEL-" the screaming stops as more zombies come out of the woods and surround the body.

"Ryan we need to go now!" Ashley screams trying to pull him into the van, but Ryan won't move, her screams getting the attention of the zombies, who stand up and walk in there direction.

"Ryan please! We need to leave" she pleads, tears filling her eyes as she finally gets him in the van.

"WHERE THE FUCK DID YOU TWO GO?!" Ryan screams punching the roof of the van. "I WAKE UP TO YOU TWO GONE, NOW MY BROTHERS DEAD" his voice cracking, tears streaming down his face.

"We were out scavenging supplies, an- and they came out of nowhere" she chokes out going quiet, looking away from Ryan. "We got split up, he told me to run, he said to get back to the campsite and make sure you were Okay"

"No! No! NOOOO!" Ashley yells hitting the steering wheel, turning the key in the ignition, but nothing happening. She places her head on the steering wheel and begins to sob.

"Ash, we need to go back and get him!" Ryan says softly as he rubs her shoulder comfortingly

"Ryan, he's gone. We watched him go down with our own eyes, we would be risking our lives for a corpse" she snaps angrily.

"Well if you're not going to help, I'll do it my damn self!" He says loudly loading his handgun and grabbing his bag. "I'll be back in one hour, if I'm not, you know what to do" he says before taking off down the road, the flames dancing against the trees, the sounds of the undead filling the air. His heart pounding in his chest as he approaches the spot he saw Jason go down,

"You didn't think I would let you go by yourself did you?" He hears Ashley whisper behind him.

"We need to distract them so I can go see if that's Jason!" He says as he looks through his bag, and finds a flare gun. "Use this, once they're away from the corpse I'll make a run over, you wait here, do you understand?" He asks grabbing her hand.

As Ashley loads the flare gun, they hear footsteps behind them, "get down now" he whispers as they see a persons legs emerge from the woods and fire into the group of the dead, one by one the bodies drop.

"No sign of the man or woman, continuing sweep of the area, Alpha 5 out" the man disappears back into the woods. Ryan turns to Ashley and glares angrily, before sneaking onto the road. "Please don't be Jason, please" he pleads softly under his breath as he comes to the body.

"ITS NOT HIM! ITS NOT HIM" he exclaims excitedly as he runs back to the spot Ashley was in, but she's gone. "Ashley? Ashley!" He spins in a circle, panicking. "Where are you?"

"Goodnight asshole" a mans voice says behind Ryan as he hits him with the butt of the gun, knocking him out cold. "We've got them sir".


	2. Chapter 2

"Open the gates" an unfamiliar mans voice echoes throughout the van.

"Wh-Where?" Ryan tries finishing his sentence but is met with another blow to the face.

"Shut up" The mans voice Sternly echos as Ryan falls to the floor of the van and passes out again.

"Get this guy to the holding cell, put him with the other two" he orders to the others in the area with him, Ryan trying to identify his attackers but is blocked by the hood on his face.

"OH MY GOD! RYAN IS THAT YOU?" Ashley cries out as he's tossed into a medium sized holding cell, and greeted by a big hug.

"Is Jason here?" He asks softly, as he looks around the room.

"No, I haven't seen him, I've been by myself since I woke up" she replies hanging onto Ryan's arm.

"Where the hell are we Ash? Is this some sort of government facility or something?" He asks softly not sure if there are guards listening at the door. He glances around the room one more time and notices a small window in the back right corner of the room.

"Follow me" he whispers to Ashley as he takes her hand and leads her to the window. He peaks out and realizes he's in a police station, surrounded by armed guards.

"What the hell is the place? Armed guards, cars blocking the path in, keeping us prisoner!" He asks a little loudly as he walks back to the door.

"Hey, HEY!" Ryan screams at the door hoping a guard will appear. He starts slamming on the door and then a few moments later a masked man appears holding an AK-47.

"What is with all the noise?" He bellows our and opens the door.

"Back the fuck up!" He screams at Ryan pointing the gun at Ashley. "Get over here bitch!" He says sternly at her.

"No, where are you taking her?" Ryan steps in front of her.

"I told you to back the fuck up" the guard screams out at Ryan and shoots a warning shot at the wall.

"Ok, okay. Please don't shoot!" He pleads and holds his hands in the air. "Where are you taking her?" He asks his voice cracking.

"Don't worry, you'll find out. Get on your knees and turn around" he says as he walks up to both of them and handcuffs them. "Let's go, move quick, keep quiet and follow my every instruction" he says quickly and stands them up. He leads them down a hallway, directing them to the rear exit.

"When I open this door, you go left and hit the ground, do you understand?" He asks softly. Ryan examines the strange man and makes eye contact with him, somethings off, he seems familiar but he can't quite put his finger on it.

"Are you ready?" He asks holding the door "Go! Go! Go! He says softly and follows both them to the left and then stops them.

"Wait here, and if you think of moving, take a look out at the view in front of you, but keep quiet".

Ryan hesitated but stands up slowly and peeks up around the corner and sees a yard full of walkers, and quiet sits down, breathing heavily as he looks at Ashley and the man.

"Why the fuck are we handcuffed and walking towards those walkers? If you're gonna kill us, just do it now" he quietly pleads.

"Trust me, I've got no intention of killing you Ryan, what kind of man would I be if I killed my own brother?" The man replies and Ryan's heart sinks in his chest, could this really be Jason? No! It can't be! Jason wouldn't do this to them, this mans lying.

"You're a fucking liar, you're not my brother! You're not Jason!" He protests and moves the guy. "Take that mask off so I can see your face!" He pushes the guy back.

"You'll find out everything soon Ry, but you need to listen to me, follow me or else we're all fucked" he says quietly. "Stay behind me, move when I move, and stay fucking quiet. Do you understand?" He asks sternly making eye contact with both, Ashley quickly nods in agreement, Ryan continues studying the man and then hesitantly agrees.

"Alright let's go" Jason says and they follow. Going quietly through the yard, ducking behind things as they move. "See that door?" Jason points out about 100 yards to the east. "That's where we're going, we're gonna move quickly, and quietly, run, keep your head down and whatever happens don't stop running"

"Are you crazy? Well never make it!" Ryan steps up Jason and stares him down.

"We will if you stop questioning me and just run! For once, do what I say!" Jason says coldly. "On my count" he says and begins sprinting towards the door.

As soon as they begin sprinting they're met with fun fire rattling throughout the courtyard, the bullets flying everywhere, dirt and dust flying everywhere, making the vision very limited. The footsteps of the walkers, the moans of the undead getting closer and closer.

"Get in!" Jason screams and holds the door open, but only one person makes it in behind him. "Where's Ryan?" He asks loudly looking around, realizing his brother is still outside.

Ryan hears the faint voice, realizing he's gotten separated from them Two in the gunfire and dust. "Holy shit, holy shit what the fuck am I going to do?" He whispers to himself, and ducks behind the dumpster. The walkers closing in and soon that's all Ryan can hear is the steps groaning, he closes his eyes and takes deep breaths, trying to remain quiet, he tries to stand up but his foot slips on the ground and pushes the dumpster out a bit, the wheels squeaking as he does.

"Fuck" he mutters and takes a deep breath, his heart pounding as footsteps get closer.


	3. Chapter 3

"Jason, where is Ryan?" Ashley asks, tears beginning to form in her eyes as she doesn't see Ryan.

"He must've gotten separated from us, he's still out there somewhere" he answers looking out of the little peep hole, and seeing all the walkers.

"There's no way to get to him, I'm sorry" Jason says softly as he begins walking down the corridor.

"Are you fucking serious?" She yells out chasing after him. "That's you're god damn brother our there! He's handcuffed, he doesn't even have a fighting chance!" She continues as she begins to sob, falling to the ground leaning against the wall.

"Ashley, there's a least a hundred walkers in that yard, we would never get to him, I realize it's hard, but we need to keep moving or else we're dead too" he says walking over and standing her up.

"Take these off, and give me a gun!" She demands coldly as she stands up and turns around. "Now!" Her face stone cold, heart pounding out of her chest

"Whatever you-" he tries to get say but is cut off by her.

"If you're not gonna save your brother, I will, Give me a fucking gun". He hesitated but gives her a fully loaded hand gun.

"Once that door closes, I won't be there to reopen it" Jason says staring her dead in the face.

"I'm going out there and getting him, with or without you" she says with her hand on the door taking deep breaths before backing up and going to kick it open.

"Wait, Wait" Jason says running up. "If we can get to the roof, we can get eyes on where he is and have a better chance at getting to him" Jason suggests holding her arm. "But If we're gonna do that, we need to do it quickly" he barks out and gets an immediate head nod from Ashley confirming she understands. They quickly dart down the hallway, turning right towards the staircase leading towards the roof, and are met with gunfire, bullets hitting the wall, flying towards them.

"What the fuck is going on Jason? Why are there people shooting at us!? Where are we?!" She screams over the gun fire.

"Shut up and shoot, I'll explain everything later, but first, we need to focus on getting to the roof and saving Ryan!"

"Oh shit" Ryan mutters to himself, his heart pounding in his chest, his breathing picking up as he hears banging agaisnt the dumpster. He looks around and notices a small gap between the dumpster and the wall, leading out of the courtyard.

"Please, just let me live through today" he pleads, closing his eyes in a quick prayer before darting for the break in the wall. Going through head first, he gets about halfway through when he feels something grab his ankle.

"Nughhhh" a walker moans out as it took a hold of Ryan, trying to take a bite out of his leg.

"Nooooooooo! No" Ryan screams out using is other leg to kick the walker, trying to gain just a few inches of space so he can squeeze through the wall, but the grip is to tight on his leg.

"Get off of me you piece of shit" he yells out, anger boiling deep inside his chest, his adrenaline pumping throughout his body he's able to kick the zombies head hard enough that it lets go.

"That's what I'm talking about!" He yells out as he escapes death. He walks straight to the edge of the building and is met with a huge blow to the face, hitting the ground extremely hard. His vision blurring, Ryan passes out as a dark shadowy figure walks up to him.

"It's good to see you again asshole" a deep voice says rather excitedly.

"Who- who ar-" Ryan tries whispering out before passing out.

"Get this scumbag bag to the holding cells, and I want 3 guards on him at all times, until we find his brother, move out" barks the deep voice.


End file.
